View the real estate listing for a Sears Alhambra in Milford, Massachusetts. This is one of the nicest examples I've seen of this unusual Sears house.

Sears Alhambra - Milford, MassachusettsImage courtesy of Zillow

After you visit the blog, join the Sears Modern Homes Facebook page to see many more examples of kit houses from Sears and other kit house companies. Interested in reading more? Check out the kit house blogs linked under "More about Catalog and Kit Homes" on the right hand side of the page.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Once upon a time, I thought the Sears Elmhurst was a super rare model offered by Sears Roebuck. It made sense that we wouldn't expect to find more than a handful of them. The Elmhurst is a fairly large house, pricier because it was finished in brick veneer and only offered for a handful of years at a time when home sales were in decline, all factors that would tend to keep the number of houses built down to a small number. But in fact, we've discovered through our research that if the Elmhurst was once considered a rare model, it's a rarity no more. With almost 20 examples located to date, there's more than a handful of them out there. Still, it's an interesting looking house and always fun to find one. So I want to share with you another example of the Elmhurst that I recently came across in Niskayuna, New York.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Wendy and I want to thank the attendees of our recent presentation on "Michigan Kit Houses" at the Flint Public Library. We enjoyed highlighting the history of kit houses in the Flint community and sharing examples of kit houses - like the Sears Lexington - that still exist in Flint. We know there's more research to be done in Flint and more kit houses to be found. We look forward to continuing that effort!

Thursday, July 6, 2017

"Houses by Mail" by H. Ward Jandl and Katherine H. Stevenson is the go-to book for Sears catalog house researchers. Published in 1986, it includes an image of almost every house that Sears sold through their mail order catalogs from 1908 - 1940. But due to the lack of availability of a few catalogs back in 1986, not every model made it into the book. One of the missing models is the Parkridge. Recently, while looking for Sears houses with mortgages in Westchester County, New York, I came across a very nice example of the Sears Parkridge and was able to identify it myself. Let's take a look!

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Andrew and Wendy Mutch are the owners of a 1926 Sears Hamilton located in Novi, Michigan. Visit our web site to learn more about the research we do and how to contact us.

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As information professionals, Wendy and I believe in the value of collaboration and the importance of sharing information and research. To that end, we encourage you to use the information we've shared on this site to help you in your own research and to discover catalog and kit houses. If you find something worth sharing with us, please do so!

All the images on this site, unless otherwise noted, are the property of Andrew and Wendy Mutch and may not be used without our written consent. If you see something you would like to use, please ask us. We'll likely say "yes!"